For centuries, musicians have been using printed paper to display music scores. When performing a piece of music that is not memorized, musicians typically either ask someone to turn the pages for them or free up a hand to quickly turn the pages themselves. There are a number of drawbacks of having someone to turn the pages. First, it requires the person who turns the pages to be on the stage with the musician, which affects the overall look-and-feel of the performance, because the person turning the page is not only a distraction to the musician but also to the audience. Besides, it creates work for the musician to find and coordinate with this person prior to the performance. It may create additional work for the musician if he needs to rehearse the performance with this person. Even with the above drawbacks, having someone to turn the pages may work for solo performances but the situation would be much more difficult if the performance involves a large group of musicians.
There are also drawbacks if the musicians turn the paper sheets themselves. For many instruments such as the violin, the musicians may not have a free hand because both hands are occupied with either playing the music or holding the instrument. In addition, even if a musician has a moment to turn the pages, it requires him to turn precisely a page and make sure the pages that display the music would stay flat and open for optimal viewing. The motion of turning a physical page with precision causes distraction to the musician's concentration, and it may also affect the overall look-and-feel of the performance.
Therefore, there is a need for an electronic music display that addresses the issues of the conventional methods described above.